Academy of Finland’s September 2018 call text out now

During the summer, we will be preparing a few technical changes to simplify the application process.The technical instructions will be supplemented in August so that they are ready when the call opens on 10 September.You can follow the update status at www.aka.fi/whatsnew.

New research council structure

The Academy of Finland is reforming its research council structure. In the September 2018 call, applications may be submitted to one of three research councils.The three research councils as of 1 January 2019 are: the Research Council for Biosciences, Health and the Environment, the Research Council for Culture and Society, and the Research Council for Natural Sciences and Engineering.

The research councils’ research fields and a research field classification are available on our website.When deciding on the most suitable research council, it is best that you look at the research councils’ research fields from a broad perspective. Also, it is good to remember that you will still be able to choose five research fields for your application when you are submitting it in the online services.

We’re improving the structure of the research plan

We have reorganised the structure of the research plan based on feedback from applicants and reviewers.The new structure better corresponds to the review questions and supports the overall review.From now on, both the research plan and the list of publications are filled in on a separate tab in the online application form.

Decisions in two stages

The Academy has implemented experiments in some funding opportunities where the review panels have been asked to both rate and rank the applications assigned to them.The research councils have used this information to support their decisions.We are now extending this experiment to the September 2018 call.The research councils’ power of decision will not change.

The decisions on applications for Academy Project, Academy Research Fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher funding submitted in the September 2018 call will be made in two stages.First, applications that have received rating 1–4 in the review will receive a negative decision at the discretion of the research council concerned.This means that these applicants will be notified of the decision earlier than before.The rest of the applications will be processed at the second stage.

Funding open for application in September 2018:

-Academy Project funding, all research fields
- ICT 2023 programme: Programmable World and Advanced Software Techniques
- Funding for research post as Academy Research Fellow
- Funding for research post as Postdoctoral Researcher
- Funding for research post as clinical researcher
- Funding for international researcher mobility based on bilateral agreements
- SRC matching funds for Horizon 2020

Also open for application:

- Review of applications for sport science project funding from Ministry of Education, Science and Culture

More information

- September 2018 call text
- www.aka.fi/whatsnew-Research councils’ research fields as of September 2018
- contact persons named in the call text
- Questions and feedback